Where is photography in the dance of the arts? Does she play any role at all? Where could one pursue such a question better than at such a comprehensive art exhibition as NORDART in Büdelsdorf near Rendsburg.

First observation: photography does not play a big role. The stars come from 3D art, sculptures and installations. Of course, this is also because there is plenty of space available. Worth mentioning is the really high Babylonian Tower of Xi Jianjun from China or the three larger than life winged deer floating of the ceiling in the hall made by Michael Gabriel , which also reflect in a large pool of water. My favorite in sculpture and objects is definitely David Cerný from the Czech Republic.

Second observation: `size matters’. Most objects, photographs, and installations are executed on a large scale, objects that are impressive in their dimensions alone. The empty steelfactory in Büdelsdorf with its large ‘outdoor’ area offers ideal conditions for this as well. Smaller pictures, which are also issued, hardly manage to make themselves seen. Probably the largest images are a series by Klaus G. Kohn called ‘Credo’, showing eight larger-than-life hull images of people expressing their sentiments on the T-shirt wear or even on the skin.

Third observation: photographs work in series. The type of series is very different; additive series (f.e. the staged series `Yuko’ by Ulrich Heemann from Germany, ‘Zweiraumwohnung’ by Katherina Belkina from Russia / Germany and `Natura morte’ by Evangelos Koukouwitakis from Greece / Germany), narrative series, especially the picture story` Hotel Medusa I-VII’ by Pawel Sadaj from Poland. From the series that express variety I especially liked the `Futuroscopes’ series (see above) by Léonie Young. An example where, in addition to the content, differences in format and hanging are also expressed. There are also series, that try to attract attention through very small formats and series that open up an additional layer through different framing and frame effects. Fourth observation: photography enters into every imaginable combination with other media and arts. Many painters use photography as a template for painting (`Smartphone Light 5′ by Ivan Milenkovic from Serbia), for tapestry weaving (Jenny Ymker from the Netherlands, for rastered portraits (Zhang Dali from China or use photo material as raw material for their collages (Dayoung Jeong from South Korea / France. On the other hand, photography copies and satirizes works of painting, cites painting (f.e. Filipp Rabachev from Russia and invites to a happy guessing game. But photography also enters into dialogue with other media, such as with video installations.

Fifth observation: there is no consistent tendency in the photographic works seen on the NORDART. The diversity is high the most different formats, subjects, techniques are used. It experiments in different directions and social habits like making selfies are integrated like in the work of the artist Michael Bachhofer from Austria, who has attached a few humanhigh butterfly wings to the wall between which one can pose and be photographed. Another work by the same artist shows a wall of straws. An installation that tries to understand the fragmented view of insects. Also, this installation works only if you are behind this wall to look at or be photographed. Much experimental playing but not just playful. Who wants to see this fair quickly is probably already too late, because the exhibition closes on October 13th. But after NORDART is before NORDART. The selection for 2020 starts in November and next summer’s there will again be art to look at.